Southern Michigan Railroad

On my most recent vacation I was able to drive by the Southern Michigan Railroad, a small non-profit volunteer tourist line that runs trains through the scenic countryside between the towns of Clinton and Tecumseh.  This was on a weekday and there was no one around to talk to.

They have a collection of industrial switchers in varying condition, some of which provide power for the passenger trains.  I know little about these things, but here they are.   Some of them, at least.

This radiator fan is certainly impressive:

Of more interest to me, as you might guess, are the two electric cars that provide most of the passenger accommodations on the service train.   And one of them happens to be car 1 from the South Shore, the first of the modern steel cars from 1926.  It was part of the NPS collection, which never went anywhere, and when it was sold off car 1 was acquired by the Southern Michigan.  There's no attempt at electric operation, so it is just towed as a trailer.

In the absence of any covered storage, the plastic roof covering is undoubtedly functional.  What else could I say?

The other car is a NYC MU trailer built in 1929 by Standard and used for many years on the well-known electric trains out of Grand Central that ran up the Hudson.  James Cagney, for instance, rode these cars on his way to and from prison at Sing Sing in Each Dawn I Die.

The museum also owns South Shore car 36, which is stored derelict out in the country somewhere.  I didn't try to locate it.

The line runs from the north end at Clinton down to Tecumseh, about five miles.  

A city park provides a facility for loading and unloading ties.  At this point, they also sometimes board passengers, using a church near the tracks as a terminal.

In Tecumseh, the track occupies one side of the street, and trains often load here.

The track continues for several miles farther south, but hasn't been used for a long time.  Much of it is side-of-the-road.

So that was interesting.  Judging from their website, the line seems to do a reasonably good business with their excursion trains.  Clinton is about as far from downtown Detroit as Union is from Chicago, and easy enough to get to, so there's a market available.  But as always, there's no place like home!